The Way We Are
by Hoodies and Leather
Summary: Following directly after the events of Degrassi: Las Vegas. How Jake deals with losing Katie. Alternate outcome of Drew and Bianca's wedding. Jake/Drew. One shot.


**I was inspired to write this after watching Degrassi: Las Vegas last night. This is not going to be another full-length story, just something short and sweet. Also, it's not connected to my other story, Sky High Club. This is just another envisioning of Drew and Jake getting together because I love them so much. :-)**

* * *

Jake couldn't wait for the plane trip back to Toronto to be over with. He just wanted to be left alone to deal with everything that had happened. To make matters worse, he was sitting only a few seats away from the girl who had just broken his heart.

He couldn't even bring himself to face Mo, but at least Mo got the idea and pretty much left him alone for most of the ride home. Jake flipped his hood over his head and prepared for a few hours of perpetually staring out the window and at the back of his own eyelids.

He occasionally shot a few reflexive glances at Katie, who seemed to be permanently fixated on him with her sad puppy face. His lips flattened into a stiff line. His heart began to pound in his chest from rage and hurt. It was too much to look at her for too long. He knew she already probably noticed his eyes turning red and glossing over.

A few times, he even caught her hugging Marisol, looking like she was about to cry. She sure had a lot of fucking nerve to think she had a right to be upset like this.

"You okay, man?" Mo asked.

Jake swallowed hard and cleared his throat, "Yeah."

While he was eager to get home and have time to himself, he was dreading it as well. Being by himself meant he had a whole lot of time to dwell on Katie and be miserable.

Looks like he wasn't going to be winning this one either way.

He pulled himself into a comfortable position in his seat and rested his eyes until he fell asleep.

* * *

As soon as the door shut, the long overdue tears came. He sobbed as silently as he could into his pillow. Even though he was in total privacy, he still felt pitiful for crying over a girl.

It wasn't all about Katie, though; a lot of it was about how nothing seemed to go right for him in relationships.

He loved Clare, but his dad also loved Clare's mom. That wasn't going to work out for very long. He's had a number of girlfriends before moving in with Clare that he loved, but it turns out none of them felt the same way for him.

He was frustrated; he tries to be nice, caring, protective of the people that matter to him. He behaves like the gentleman he was raised to be, treats others with the respect and dignity he knows they deserve. And what does he get in return? Either unforeseen circumstances get in the way or the other person just ends up fucking him over.

Jake's the type of guy to smile through the pain and just suck it up and deal with it. But now, it's just starting to hurt too much to ignore it.

He always wanted to go to Vegas and he was so thrilled to stumble upon such an opportunity, especially being under 21 and without parental supervision. He had no idea that the trip would end with him crying on his bed.

Jake's mind snapped back to Drew and Bianca's wedding and he instantly felt guilt. When he found out Katie had basically prostituted herself for cash, he walked out right before the ceremony.

He and Drew weren't exactly best buds, but he still felt horrible for doing that to him, regardless of if the wedding actually happened or not.

Suddenly, Jake was wiping his tears and pulling his phone out of his pants pocket. He began searching for Drew in his contacts. At that moment, it was all spontaneity. He knew he genuinely wanted to apologize, but he was also looking for a way to distract himself.

"Hello?" came Drew's voice on the other end.

"Uh, hey Drew.. it's Jake." Jake answered in what he felt was possibly to most awkward greeting ever.

"Oh, hey. What's up, Jake?"

Jake noticed Drew didn't exactly sound like someone who just married the love of his life, nor did he hear any sort of indication of partying in the background, so he already came to the conclusion of how the wedding went down.

"Nothing, uhh.. I just wanted to apologize. It was a dick move of me to just walk out on your wedding, man. I'm sorry."

Drew scoffed, "Don't worry about it. I don't blame you, it looked like you had your own things going on."

"Yeah. You could say that." Jake said morosely.

"Dunno if you heard, but Bianca and I decided to end things."

"Dude, I'm sorry." Jake wondered if now wasn't the best time to bother Drew, even though he already knew things probably didn't work out, "If it makes you feel any better, Katie and I are over too."

"Doesn't make me feel better," Drew laughed ironically, "Vegas didn't work out for any of us, I guess."

Jake sniffled, "Guess not."

"You alright?" Drew could tell from the way Jake sounded that he was having a hard time and that he probably wasn't going to get an honest answer, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm cool." Jake's overcompensation was obvious.

An awkward silence followed. Jake nervously played with his shoelaces while Drew tried to think of something to say.

"You wanna come over?" Drew asked finally. It wasn't exactly what he was planning on asking, but he was feeling pretty lonely and he knew Jake could use a friend right now to.

"Come over?" Jake asked as if it's the first time he's ever heard the phrase, "Sure, that sounds good."

"Alright, cool. Maybe we can even make some memories so we'll have something to say the next time either of us have a bachelor party."

"I'd like that," Jake's tone seemed to lighten at the thought, "Okay, I'll be there in a few."

The last thing Jake wanted to do tonight was be social, but for some reason, he was willing to make an exception as soon as Drew asked him if he wanted to hang out. He felt like he couldn't get to his place fast enough. He just wanted to be with someone else at that moment.

* * *

Jake walked into the apartment Drew shared with Fiona. It seemed different to him somehow. Perhaps it was because the only times he's ever been there was when Fiona was throwing a big party of some kind.

Or maybe it was because this was the first time he's ever spent time alone with Drew.

There was an obvious tension in the air. It was made more evident because they both knew the other was mending a broken heart.

Drew could tell Jake was doing all he could to force a smile. It wasn't the usual big, bright smile he was known for. Not the one that could light up the room and make everyone feel better. He caught Jake allowing the smile falter back into a mournful scowl once he thought he wasn't being watched. It actually kind of broke his heart to see him like that. It was so unreal to see this side of Jake.

"Can I get you anything to drink or something?"

"Nah, I'm good." Jake took a seat on the couch, trying his best to retain composure.

His mind was still racing. He was so distracted by his thoughts, he didn't notice Drew next to him studying his features.

"Alright, come on."

Jake turned to him, "Hmm?"

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." Jake answered nonchalantly.

Drew sighed, "You look like a ticking time bomb, man." Drew rested a hand on his shoulder, "Just let it out. Tell me what's on your mind. It's not good to keep that stuff bottled up."

Jake tensed up as if he were freezing and he clenched his hands nervously.

"I really loved her. A lot." He started, "I thought she felt the same about me, but I guess I was wrong."

Jake's body trembled under Drew's hand. He took in a shaky breath before going on, "She made it clear that her education comes before me in her life, and so does anything or anyone else that can ensure she gets the education she wants. Even if it means having fun with other guys behind my back in exchange for the cash she needs and lying to my face about it."

Drew looked horrified, "Katie cheated on you so she could get paid?"

"Yeah, that's right." Jake's bottom lip quivered and he swallowed hard, "And if I hadn't caught on to Marisol covering for her, I would never have found out."

Drew watched Jake try his hardest to stifle his emotions and deny himself the right to spill tears. He and Jake weren't the closest of friends, but it tore him up to see him so upset. He just wanted to hug him and hold him and tell him everything would be alright.

"When she told me she got into Stanford, I was really happy for her even though I knew that meant she'd be leaving me behind. I always kinda felt like a fuck up compared to her. Part of me worried that she thought the same way, but I told myself that's just me being insecure. Turns out I was right, though." Jake closed his eyes, which were burning and red now. Tears trailed down and stained his cheeks, "After all was said and done, she still blamed me. It's all my fault cause I'm too busy getting high to understand her level of problems."

"Jake, no. You are most definitely not a fuck up. Not even close. Don't listen to her, okay? If anyone's the fuck up, it's Katie."

The more Drew spoke, the more his blood boiled. He could hit Katie for hurting Jake like this.

"Fuck her, okay? Just fuck her. She screws you over and then blames you? What a fucking bitch!" Drew was too angry to just sit down, so he began pacing back and forth."She's just mad because she got caught acting like a desperate skank."

Jake shook his head, "I can't do anything right."

"Dammit, Jake. Don't say shit like that." Drew sat back down beside him, "Come on, look at me." He grabbed Jake's chin and forced him to make eye contact.

"Katie's the one who screwed around with another dude for money like a prostitute. How the _hell_ are you the bad guy in this situation at all? You were awesome to her and this is how she repays you."

"But I-"

"No. She doesn't deserve you, man."

Jake winced as more tears rolled down his face.

"Ah, Jake.." Drew held Jake close to him and ran his fingers through his hair, "Come on, buddy, it's gonna be alright."

"If I'm not a failure, then why doesn't anyone want to stay with me? Why do they always give me up?"

"Obviously the girls you dated are morons and don't realize they missed out on a great guy. Dude, they're the ones who fucked up. Not you."

Jake's sobs shook him and Drew held onto him for dear life, like he was cradling a small, terrified child in his arms.

"I'm sorry," Jake sat up suddenly, wiping his tears. "This is embarrassing. I'm making an ass of myself right now. You don't wanna deal with me acting like this and you have your own break up to be worried about." He started to get up and head out, "I think I should get going."

Drew pulled Jake back down to the couch as he tried to rush out the door.

"Are you crazy? I'm not gonna let you go off and be by yourself like this."

It was hard seeing Jake look like this. Drew didn't think it was possible for him to be this broken up over something.

"And don't worry about me and Bianca, okay? We're fine. It was a mutual thing."

Jake continued to stare shamefully down at the floor.

"You deserve someone who appreciates you."

Jake scoffed, "Yeah, like who?"

"Like me." Drew leaned in and kissed Jake softly. He was startled at first, but he didn't resist it.

Jake gripped Drew's shoulders and pulled him in closer. Drew could feel that the poor guy was still shaking a little.

He pulled away briefly and stared at Jake for a moment, "Is it okay that we do this?"

Jake didn't answer. Instead he leaned in and returned the kiss. Drew was relieved that he didn't end up freaking Jake out more and scaring him away. Jake didn't know what came over him all he knew is he wanted more of Drew.

In that moment, all of the bad things that happened in Vegas ceased to exist.

* * *

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Jake smiled a little bit, but it was genuine nonetheless. "Did you mean what you said before? About appreciating me?"

"Of course I do!" Drew grabbed Jake's hands. "You're way too good to be treated like you're nothing. You shouldn't feel like you don't matter."

Drew stared Jake right in the eyes so he knew he meant every word of what he said.

"Things are gonna get better for you, I'll make sure of it. Trust me."

Jake scrunched his eyebrows, "I hope you're right."

"Why don't you stay here tonight? You shouldn't have to deal with this by yourself. You can even have my bed."

Drew anticipated to combat Jake's protests, but instead he found himself nearly being knocked off his feet and locked in a bear hug.

"Thank you," Jake whispered as he rocked Drew back and forth.

"Don't mention it." Drew leaned against Jake and breathed in his warm scent, satisfied that he was able to be there for him and hopefully turn things around for him, even if it's just a little bit.

* * *

The early morning light woke Drew from his sleep. He briefly forgot the events that took place over the last few days, but the memories came flooding back instantly, especially those including Jake.

_"Jake.." _

Drew pulled the blanket off himself and crept to his room. He expected it to be vacant, knowing Jake might have only reciprocated his affection last night due to being so distraught. Today would be a different story, right? He would've come to his senses early enough and slipped out by now.

Drew's eyes lit up. Much to his surprise, Jake was still there, sleeping peacefully. No evidence of the pain Drew saw him in last night remained in his expression.

And if he had anything to say about it, he'd never hurt like that again.


End file.
